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December 2002 ArchiveTuesday, December 31, 2002Happy New Year/Pap Smear!Last day of 2002 and I segued into a better year by getting my annual (ok, it's techincally my biennial). The lovely, informative Planned Parenthood doctor told me I had a lovely cervix.Damn straight. Sunday, December 29, 2002The Geekiest Girl in the WorldSo this last week I got to see lots and lots of my favorite people. It was such a treat! Two of them haunted me with things I've said in the past year. 1. This August, I told Fred about the super great cat I grew up with, Bear. We grew up with lots of pets, but Bear was the best. He was a blank manx with no tail. He was techincally my dad's cat, but he liked me best. Every morning, I'd wake up and he'd be sleeping at my feet. I'd pet him a little, then head downstairs to the bathroom in the pre-dawn. During my shower, wander downstairs and sit on the ledge outside of the sliding shower door. Bear would paw at the door until I opened it a little. He'd check out that everything was okay, then sit out the length of the shower on that ledge. When I got out of the shower, he'd jump into the sink and start purring like mad. I
was telling Fred this story and was gushing about Bear when I
said, "Bear wasn't just soem ordinary cat, he was my bestfriendcat.
Fred lost it giggling. Christmas Eve, I finally saw Fred again,
and the first thing he said was bestfriendcat. 2.
I met Alise. In her telling of the story, I immediately told
her that I'm in the top 2 percentile in intelligence. For the
record, it is very rare that I bring this up in conversation.
She gave me crap for it when I first said it. Then in the last
week, it resurfaced. Her mom and stepdad were in town and she
couldn't wait to introduce me - "This is Brandy and she's in the
top 2 percentile." Yeah, yeah, yeah. All
week I've been speaking sentences that end with, "just one more
things that makes me the geekiest girl in the world." Last
night, Fred, Nancy
and I dropped by the Broadway
Antiques Market. Fred found two more sets of his favorite
salt and pepper shakers. Nancy
gleefully found a fantastic Flour/Sugar/Coffee/Tea cabinet. I
found something I had never seen before - The Knapp Electric Questioner.
Holy poop. It was SO me. It was mine. The
Knapp
Electric Questioner is a wood box, covered in a paper label.
In the box, there's a wood board with lots of metal lined holes.
The board has two pegs at top. You hang a card of questions on
two pegs, and holes along the questions and answers line up with
the holes in the board. Two pokey things are hooked up to a battery.
When you put one in the question holes and the other one in the
right answer hole, a buzzer buzzes, because you've completed a
circuit. Of
course the whole system is pretty rudimentary because there's
only one path for each set of Q and A. So, if you were some savant
kid with patterns, you could learn the pattern of the holes, like
a gambler counts cards. But then again, I spent HOURS playing
with my Speak
and Spell with only one module. Spelling S-U-G-A-R over and
over. I
love to collect knowledge literally and abstractly. So,
this is why slide
wheels
get
me
in a tizzy,
I've got the start of a vintage flash card collection and the
Electric
Questioner was the cherry on top on a sundae of a Saturday.
...just
more thing that makes me the geekiest girl in the world.
Saturday, December 28, 2002Just now on Whad'Ya Know? Michael Feldman said, "Women love cowboys. And musicians. Or cowboys who are musicians. Those are the worst." I know four men...posted on 12/28/2002 11:40:11 AM
Thursday, December 26, 2002Epic ChristmasI'm penning this blog from my Visor 6:11 in the A M. The few folks on the northbound Red Line look asleep - slumped over, faces covered. I've seen a shitload of nightfall, since I've been at Anne and Bevin's since about 9pm. Once I stumble up to the apartment I am sure to sleep through the modicum of daylight December 26th can eke out. So
delighted to be invited by my bandmate for the festivities and
the all night floor show. I laughed. I cried. It was better than
Cats. Really.
Wednesday, December 25, 2002merry christmas!posted on 12/25/2002 08:18:06 PM
Tuesday, December 24, 2002When
you're sick as a dog and full of phlegm, don't you want Tissue
San to comfort you? I know I do. Monday, December 23, 2002An Embarrassment of RichesI've got so many superkickass friends. And I got to spend the whole weekend visiting many of them! I started out Friday night with Ms. Alise. We had good food, great conversation. We both finally succumb to My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Cute movie, but I think all the hype took some of the charm out of it. I
spent all day Saturday with Aaron
Rothman and his lovely g-friend, Rebecca Bloom. I always preface
my Aaron stories with, "Aaron, the other printmaker at Grinnell"
because he and I were the only two in our class with the moxie
to concentrate in printmaking. He's now in Arizona finishing up
grad schooling in photography. We ate food, hung out in my supercomfy
apartment and went to the Art
Institute . Sorta breezed through a few exhibits. I kicked
myself, again, for missing both the Richter and Gursky shows while
they were here. A running theme of the day was that I was/am the
Geekiest Girl in the World. My favorite Aaron moment: I accused
Rebecca of being a stripper when I saw how many single bills she
had. Aaron was taking a picture of me and squinting through the
viewfinder said, "No, if Rebecca was a stripper, she'd get twenties."
Awwww... Sunday
I got a sleep hangover sleeping until 2 pm. I never sleep
that late. But between a super gray day and daydreaming, it was
great day to do so. Ross Elfline arrived at 5:30. He's just embarked
on a PhD in Art Criticism at UCLA, and is back in IL for the holidays.
I happily coordinated a game of Rail
Barons so others converged for a game. I was still weak and
weird from all the sleep and lack of food, so I wasn't the world's
best host. Ross
and I got a chance to talk a bit about school/art/life/Chicago/LA
after the game, before bed, and over breakfast this morning. I
am very pleased to report that Ross is the first guest to use
the guest bed. He reports that it is really comfy and that it
is just so pleasant to wake up in my apartment. All the sunlight.
I take vast amounts of pleasure in people being comfortable in
my apartment. The last four weekends have given my lotsa pleasure
to be host to so many folks. Before
we went to bed, I gave Ross the general snoring warning. On the
rare occasion I am sleeping within someone else's earshot, I tell
folks they have license to wait me up if I snore and disturb them.
I could saw logs as a kid and come from a long line of snorers.
Since I've started issuing this policy, I've had a handful of
folks report back in the morning that I did snore, but barely
and that it was very feminine. Exact words used by several
different folks. Ross laughed when I said this and responded,
"I can't see you doing anything feminine." Not sure whether
to agree or be offended. *sigh* This morning Ross characterized
my barely-snore as cute or adorable of something along those lines.
At least I'm endearing when I'm unconscious. Vanity
Plates
Saturday, December 21, 2002Putting the Bra Back in Brandy*whew* I'm a whole new woman. All my bras have been replaced. Unlike my (much girlier) sis, I can count all the bras I own on one hand, so replacing them (all but the strapless eighth wonder of the world) is a breeze. I've always had a hate/hate relationship with bras. I became one busty teenager in sixth grade, and I was loath to shop for the proper support. Anything in my size was either a bullet bras, or terribly matronly. Not that I was looking to be a sexpot Lolita type, I just didn't want a bras that could clothe small children. Victoria knows squat about ample bosomed chicks. Padded bras in a D cup or higher is a really bad idea. I don't want no stinkin' minimizer. And I just feel silly in anything frilly. Have you seen me in anything frilly on the outside? Lane Bryant came to the rescue yet again. Usually at the store my size is on right end of the size shelving, where you can only find band-aid-colored atrocities or white jobbies your grandmother is wearing right now. At Lane Bryant, my size is in the middle. Comfy bra, nice line, no padding, kinda-sexy-in-a-simple way. 2 black, 1 white, 1 red. *gasp* Color! Now anyone perusing the blog knows my bra inventory. Enjoy! posted on 12/21/2002 12:19:14 PM
Friday, December 13, 2002Things I Have Learned Lately[o] Yep, a charley horse still SUCKS. [o] There are few things better than good conversation. [o] Practice works. [o] It is not my job to absorb other people's stress. [o] It's hard to wipe your ass wearing a wrist brace. [o] I am now an official adult because I own my very own Tupperware Serving Center. [o] Quite a bit about early semiotics. [o] Not a whole lot of people know my favorite Christmas song, Marshmallow World. [o] Pink chiffon ribbon is delightful. Posted on 12/13/2002 11:51:53 PM
Monday, December 02, 2002Open HouseThe blog has been sparse because I've spent the last two months cranking through some apartment improvements. My deadline for everything was today, the first of three Open Houses of the season. It's always a big deal, because it's usually the only time, once a year, that I truly clean my pig sty. This year was different, because I was making major changes, rather than just piling stuff up out of view. After loads of work and sweat, I open my doors. The apartment is fantastic. Nearly everything that were concepts in my brain three months ago, are now a reality in my environment. It feels rilly, rilly good. Cry
Baby I
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